Posted on 03/15/2004 10:14:07 AM PST by presidio9
The results of Sunday's election in Spain, in which the pro-American Popular party was voted out of office in an upset by a Socialist party profoundly at odds with American policy in Iraq and elsewhere, doesn't leave much room for interpretation. Economics wasn't the issue. Job creation and education weren't topics of widespread debate. The war in Iraq, which the conservative Aznar government strongly supported, despite the overwhelming opposition of most Spaniards, had largely evaporated as a factor in the polls before the voting. Not even the horrible terror attacks of Thursday did much to change voters' minds.
The thing that made the difference to Spanish voters was the growing apprehension that al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks. In the first few hours after the atrocity, homegrown ETA terrorists were blamed by the government for the attacks. If true, this would have strengthened the government's strong antiterrorist position. But subsequent evidence of possible al Qaeda involvement — evidence mostly unverified and still under investigation — was used by the Socialists in noisy street demonstrations supported by Spain's left-wing press as proof that al Qaeda was targeting Spain because of its support of the U.S. in Iraq and that the government had lied in claiming the ETA was the culprit, despite the fact that potential Arab involvement had been discovered by the outgoing government. BBC reports from Madrid cast the election as a referendum not just on the war, but on whether or not Spanish voters were willing to face the consequences of joining the war on terrorism.
They were not. Spanish voters went to the polls to apologize for their government's actions. There was no other issue on the ballot. The results bode ill for America's antiterrorism campaign. As the Daily Telegraph reports today, the new Spanish prime minister has signaled his desire to move away from the U.S.; withdrawing troops from the Coalition in Iraq was one of the Socialists' main campaign promises, and indeed, it was one of the first acts announced by the new government. By the time you have lunch today, reports the BBC with some satisfaction, Spanish troops will be packing their bags to go home.
But the reaction in the left-wing European press is predictable. The Guardian had already sounded the note the night before the elections in an editorial that reflected the Spanish mood accurately: "We need to take the fight against terror out of America's hands. We need to get beyond the them and us, the good guys and the bad guys, and seek a genuinely collective response. Europe should seize the moment that America failed to grasp." As Spain's left-wing El Pais celebrated the Socialists' "unprecedented" victory, in Libération, the defeat was seen as the price of Aznar's "lies" about al Qaeda culpability. Suddeutsche Zeitung told readers that Aznar was being punished for supporting America's antiterrorism policies in Iraq and elsewhere. In the Independent, Robert Fisk reminded his readers that "The West was warned." He's not referring to September 11, of course.
The ultimate wisdom of allowing al Qaeda terrorism to determine national elections is still to be seen. But as the Socialists in Spain get "beyond the them and us, the good guys and the bad guys," and attempt to find the common ground they have with whomever killed 200 innocent citizens and wounded 1,400 others, that country's apology for supporting the war on terrorism will be heard with appreciation by al Qaeda — and ETA, the IRA, Hamas, and every other terrorist organization in the world.
If this country's response to an attack like that ever became to give in to the attackers, it would be a sign that this is no longer America, but Nannyland. It would be a precursor to a very bad schism in American society, because those who would never give in to Islamic global terror would have to find a way to continue the fight for civilization.
Luckily, I don't think such a thing could happen in the US, but the opposite. I think that if the terrorists tried to influence US elections, that Bush would win by an even higher percentage. Just as happened in Australia, the other Anglo-Saxon culture that has not been sissified by PC. (Canada, New Zealand and Britain have largely been changed by the socialist culture.)
As it is, I think Bush will win in a landslide, the polls right now are just push polls designed by the media to make a stiff look like a contender. But an attack would result in a bump similar to 9/11, even with the media trying to make it look like Bush's fault. The people will see through it, like what happened in the 2002 elections that no one in the media foresaw.
If I am wrong, may God help us.
All the stories have been told
Of kings and days of old,
But there's no England now.
All the wars that were won and lost
Somehow don't seem to matter very much anymore.
All the lies we were told,
All the lies of the people running round,
They're castles have burned.
Now I see change,
But inside we're the same as we ever were.
The Kinks, Living on a Thin Line
BUMP
This is just stunning. There are no "bad guys" in the War on Terror?
Hypocrisy a standard tactic of the Left.
...their hemmoroids, a bunion, the sun coming up, the sun going down...
Typical stupid leftists! The terrorists are not targeting Spain because of their support for the US in Iraq, they are targeting Spain because they are not mindless adherents to their radical brand of Islam.
The French are mailing black surrender monkeys? Oh, the humanity...
They are targeting Spain, because they'd like to target us, but the steps President Bush has taken to protect us from terrorism are working, and the US is a much harder target than it was in 2001.
I agree, it is disheartening that an anti-American like Kerry, who has been on the wrong side of every issue his whole life, could get the Dimorat nomination, but you have to remember, all he did was get the largest plurality of the votes of the minority party in America, until his competition was eliminated, and there was no one for Rats to vote for. Turnout was very low, as was enthusiasm, except among the true believing ex-hippies and the news media.
Muslims are still a small percentage of the voting public, and let's hope we keep it that way. I don't understand how Israelis can let Arabs vote in their elections; you have to get about 60 percent of the Israeli vote to win an election, because the Arab vote joins with Labor and hinders their antiterror efforts. I worry more about the hispanic vote; rather than pander to it on the idea that they are going to be 20 percent in a few decades, I'd rather kick out all the illegals and keep the hispanics to no more than 10 percent of the electorate. We can win that group over, or at least some of them, but not if another few million come over every year, and start voting a few years after that.
We have a small window of 5-10 years to set this country back on track, or else we will just be "Europe lite." For this year, though, I think we remain strong and united against terror and socialism.
The one thing to remember, is that only 43% of Spain voted for appeasement. 38% voted to continue the war on terror. The remaining 19% were off in Nader-Nader land.
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